Volume 2 - CH 6

Once I had cleaned up the things in the guild's reference room and Teto had also finished changing clothes, we quickly met with the members of [Sword of the Dawn] in the guild's bar.

"Excuse me. I'd like this and that for lunch nanodesu!"

"I'd like the standard stew set and juice to drink."

Because of Rafilia's punishment for making a fuss, Teto didn't hesitate to order a meal at her expense.

The [Sword of the Dawn] were, on the other hand, busy ordering...

"Oh! This one's good, so let's start with it, along with a beer!"

"I'll order a beer as well! And a suitable snack to go with it."

"Hmm, I'll take this, this, and this. Along with salad and wine"

"I'll also take a meal and water, no alcohol."

"Nooooooo! You guys, if I'm paying up can't you restrain yourselves?!" 

...

As good as you could say their relationship was, the elf girl still became a little teary as she felt like her wallet is now going empty.

"So, as you were saying?"

Because I wanted to listen to the discussion sober, I brought it up right before the drinking started, hoping that the leader, Arsas-san, would respond seriously.

"It was a while ago that we went to exterminate monsters at another location and came back today. During that time, I could clearly see our week point. I was thinking of searching for a guy who could handle the attacks of the monsters in front of us, a tank that is suitable for being our sixth member."

"So that's why you invited Teto"

Teto, who had stuffed her face with meat, tilted her head in response to our stares, as if to ask, "What?"

"That's right. We apologize for any inconvenience our careless elf has caused you. I've completely given up on soliciting that jou-chan. If you split up a good party, you'll just be resented"

"That makes sense because Teto will never leave me, and I will never leave her."

With that said, Arsus-san bitterly smiled while staring at his food. Perhaps dissatisfied with their leader's decision, the elf girl puffed up her cheeks and narrowed her eyes.

"Even though an A-ranked party went through the trouble to invite you, isn't that quite the attitude?"

"You, quickly repent!"

"Ouch! How mean, is this something to hit me over?!"

I calmly listened and watched their bickering as I silently ate my meal.

Apparently everyone except their leader, Arsus-san, seemed to be a B-ranked adventurer.

"So, are there any other candidates for the position of tank?"

"Not yet, I was wondering whether I should earnestly search for one or if all else fails, just raise a good-looking D-rank guy."

After hearing him say that, I quickly glanced at the witch, Lena-san and the elf, Rafilia. They appeared to be the party's main long-range attackers. The priestly-looking monk could perform some restoration magic as well as physical attacks with his mace, and the scout-like man could also lock people down by buying time.

(T/N: レナ Lena --- Also note. I'm not missing a -san on Rafilia. Our Chise just refuses to refer to her politely)

As it was right now, the party's balance was good as it was, with the A-ranked Arsus-san also serving as a tank. However, if a main tank joined them and he was able to attack with his full power, their explosive power would increase even more.

But then again------

"Jealous......"

As I looked down at my chest, which resembled a flat cliffside, I couldn't help but wonder why the chests of different witch jobs came in such a wide range of sizes.

Her mature charm complemented her cloaked figure, as did her black open-chested mermaid dress. 

(T/N: A mermaid-type dress is basically a wedding dress. Except this one is black.)

"......I also wanna be big"

"Majo-sama is just the right size nanodesu. Very easy to hug nodesu"

"Right, right, Chise-san, was it? You're still growing."

Having said that, Teto, who was beaming widely, and the young witch, who was smiling gently, patted my shoulder.

But some people just don't understand.

"Hmm. At any rate, She's just sticking to the swordsman Teto to raise her rank, right?"

Teto, who had been smiling widely, instantly became expressionless and began emitting an air of bloodlust in response to Rafilia's remarks.

"Majo-sama------"

"Teto, stop!"

"Hngg... okaaay"

Teto became disheartened when I told her to stop, but her bloodlust caused Arsus-san to instinctively draw his sword and prepare for battle. As expected of a high-rank adventurer, his reaction time was admirable, but I continued to tightly hug the depressed Teto until she settled down.

"Rafilia. You're certainly powerful, but your assessment of your opponent is lacking. Even if you're a B-rank, you have the perception of a D-rank. Chise-jou-chan is concealing her own mana, but it is comparable to that of a court wizard."

The court magicians who served their countries were among the most powerful forces in each country.

Defeating monsters to raise their level and studying magic their entire lives for the sake of increasing their mana by a single point, it was said to be at least 10,000 and many have claimed to have 30,000 or 40,000.

Nevertheless, the amount of released mana was suppressed so that it wouldn't be revealed but no matter how much it was suppressed, only the most elite adventurers were aware of the true extent of one's mana.

"That's basically it. My mana is currently around 15,000"

"Incredible. You have a lot of potential if you have that much mana while still young. Mine is 12,000. That monk has 7,000 and Rafilia, who is an elf, has 15,000 mana like you."

"Wait! Don't just declare my amount of mana without asking! Besides, I'm still growing, so it will increase! "

That similar witch also mentioned her mana. She had the potential to become a court mage with her mana of over 10,000.

"Hey, hey. Your amount of mana is impressive, but what can you do with it? Since you used [Clean] and [Heal] at the training center, is it water and light? Incidentally, my specialty is fire and darkness"

"I guess I use a lot of wind in my attacks? Unlike fire magic, I don't have to worry about damaging materials or the spread of fire. Also, since I've been traveling I use a lot of barrier magic"

"I got you. It is certainly convenient when gathering materials. And since you two girls are on a journey, such magic is absolutely necessary!"

For some reason, that witch and I were somehow able to hit it off. Following that, we continued our light conversation with the high-ranking explorers, and when we had finished our meal, Teto and I got to our feet and left the table.

"All right, it looks like we'll be going home. Starting tomorrow, we are going to begin the process of capturing the dungeon."

"Well, it's been nice! If we ever meet in the dungeon, let's cooperate!"

After I finished speaking, I made a bow to Arsus-san, who gave me the meal and left the guild to return on our rented apartment.

And then, when we finished eating out in the evening and tried to use the bath in the apartment, we once again encountered Arsus-san and the others who happened to be coming back home.

Apparently they had also become tenants at this rental apartment, and as a result it was our first meeting with our neighbors.